Although Vero has been around since 2015 I don't remember hearing about it until it blew up (in part as a protest against Instagram's algorithmic timeline) a few days ago.

The current name land grab reminds me of when Plurk and Identi.ca were being touted as the answer in Twitter's "fail whale" days.

Spoiler alert: they weren't.

As soon as I saw what Vero was all about - the idea it "makes sharing online more like real life" using selective audiences I was immediately taken back to the promises of Google+ and its circles.

It didn't work for Google and I don't know if it will work for Vero.

Perhaps the one advantage Vero has is that it takes a more Facebookian approach to audiences (think Everyone, friends of friends, friends) whereas Plus' circles were under complete user control and, therefore, often became too granular. This resulted in many just posting to public because they couldn't decide which circle people should fall in or there was overlap because we are multi-faceted beings.

Although Vero promises an algorithm free feed and no ads (it will monetise using subscriptions and charges for selling via the platform) I'm not sure that jumping from the frying pan of one silo straight into the as yet unproven fire of another is what we really need right now.

It all just sounds too good to be true.

I wish them well and hope they prove me wrong but, while I think the noise about Russian developers and the CEO being the son of a former Lebanese prime minister is stupid and tantamount to inciting racial hatred, I'm afraid I won't be signing up.

@colinwalker I also don’t think that Vero will be the solution, because yet another silo etc. But having control over who I share something with, is a huge painpoint I have at the moment. I don’t know how to make something like Vero more open. That would be my sweet spot.

@devilgate It’s just the way that people have been signing up just to get their preferred names even if they may not intend to use it. It’s anecdotal from conversations I’ve seen more than a specific story.